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Movies | Written by Nick Blackshaw 16/02/2015

Louis Jourdan, 1921 – 2015

It is with great sadness that STARBURST reports the death of noted French actor Louis Jourdan. With his natural charisma and a career spanning over 65 years, Jourdan was a hit with both mainstream and cult audiences alike and received billing opposite some of Hollywood’s greatest stars.

After several films in Europe, his mainstream career began in 1947 with his first American film The Paradine Case; this saw him work alongside Gregory Peck and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. His steady career included more mainstream success in The Swan (1956) with Grace Kelly and Sir Alec Guinness, as well as the critically acclaimed film adaptation of the musical Gigi (1958) which won nine Academy Awards.

Into the late 1970s, Jourdan’s career took a turn into the realm of cult TV and film; he played the titular in the BBC’s adaptation of Count Dracula (1977) bringing the seductive yet deadly Count to life, and one of the famed murderers in the Columbo episode: Murder Under Glass (1978). However, many will remember him for his work in the ‘80s in which he appeared as villain Kamal Kahn in the Bond film Octopussy (1983) opposite Roger Moore and the Wes Craven directed adaptation of the much loved comic Swamp Thing (1982) as Dr. Anton Arcane. He would later return to the role in the low budget sequel The Return of Swamp Thing (1989).

By 2010, Jourdan had largely retired having had a long and expansive career from which he received wide ranging recognition including two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the prestigious Legion of Honour.